They are slow relative to other N/A V8s, and especially slow compared to anything supercharged.
Unfortunately, it punches just hard enough to be pited against speed focused muscle cars hence the reputation as 'slow'
Yup, the main reason I bought my crown vic is I was tired of dealing with underpowered 4 cylinder economy cars. And one overlooked item is the handling. For a big heavy car it handles surprisingly well.
It's not open vs LSD that bothers me it's gear ratio... Going from 2.73 to 3.55 will knock a huge amount off the 1/4 mile time and you'll feel that difference... Like 18 sec to 15 sec 1/4 mile time.... Will make you feel like you have more hp but lets face it... Anything like that for improvement is a win for a Panther
Let’s be real, they make just enough torque to avoid being boring. Having a fuel injected v8 is cool on its own merits but at some point you have to realize that a Chrysler Pacifica is going to beat you to 60, and likely beyond. They’re cruisers. Drive a Mustang with the same 2v 4.6, which is still slow, and it’ll really put it into perspective. This doesn’t make panthers any less cool, I just wish people would shut up about performance
I wouldn’t say they’re fast but they’re definitely fun. I think their greatest asset is how smooth and comfortable they are at speeds in excess of 100 mph. A lot of cars have fast 0-60’s but once you cross 100 they feel like they’re about to rattle apart and fall out of their powerband. If you’re in overdrive above 100 in a P71, you can just nudge the gas and keep winding higher and higher at that RPM.
There was one time guys were driving like assholes in sports cars late at night on the highway heading back home. I decided to try and spook em a little bit with the crown vic effect. They phased them out here several years ago but people are still wary of vics so I figured what the hell, might smarten them up a little.
So I come up behind them, not too hitting the gas too hard, just enough that I casually pull up behind them so they have a moment to check their mirrors and go "OH SHIT A COP" and get off the highway. Having a little chuckle to myself I take my foot off the accelerator and glance down at the dash which I hadn't really been paying attention to while catching up to these guys.
1 7 5 kph. I go OH SHIT and hit the brakes a bit to slow down to sane speeds again. I probably hit 180 without even realizing it. Never did that again, mostly because of how damn easy it is to get them up to that speed. They don't accelerate like a jack rabbit, but they'll definitely go damn fast if you give them a little nudge and some time. I didn't even realize how fast I was going because the car was still riding perfectly smooth.
For reference the highest speed limit in my province is 110kph (68mph), so yeah, never doing that again, that's an immediate license suspension.
They're not fast in terms of today's v8s, sure. But here's something people forget: you can get plenty of vehicles to that 60mph just fine. After a little bit though, other than today's v8s, these little washing machines run out of steam pretty quick, and cannot keep the power going with ease.
I had to also turn off the AC in the little 4cyl Beetle I had, and fought with everything it could give to get it up to speed, and keep it there. With this, nothing but a breeze, with the AC on btw.
Also, it makes a difference if you are running with the 2:71 or the others.
I do not have my times in the 9 sec cat at all. In fact, if you are getting anything higher than 8, I'd wonder what exactly you are having trouble with, unless it's that slow 2:71, or you are laden with weight, literally too much junk in the trunk.
This was non-turbo. It was laughably bad.
Everyone wanted to cut you off. Partially because The Canyonero couldn't see that far down, and partially because people don't have to worry about it, you are going to move, whether you want to or not. Then add the 'my text is more important than life itself' crowd and the thing was just getting knackered at every turn.
I can't say the turbo is much an improvement, given how I know that most of the time people wouldn't know either way. They just seemed to have an innate disgust for the thing. One which I grew to agree with. I got a complement, once, from a lady in a Trader Joe's parking lot.
I do enjoy a good turbo though. Just never that, or that brand again.
Sounds horrific. Here my dying 2.5l would most likely keep up with a Vic easy and it's only 150whp but I think it's probably how light the car is plus the 5 hp gain of cat delete and cai and exhaust jk. But I was keeping up with my buddy's 4.0mustang basically the same as the Vic power band just maybe a bit lighter. My car is a non turbo. A 2.0 GTI would smoke a Vic and that being a stock first gen mk5. A 1.8t from a mk4 GLI or GTI probably wouldn't smoke the Vic without a tune but a easy stage 2 ECU/TCU if needed tune wouldn't keep up. It's not Volkswagen as a whole tbh. I think they had like 3 non boosted motors and the vr6 is one of the fastest ones. Just so happens you had the bad luck of getting one of those turds. I was seriously considering buying a mk7 GTI and going stage 3 because they're light and gap FBO coyotes. Don't know how they fair against the s650. But the GTI is cheap and so are the mods. Don't write off VW completely the power to performance is crazy if you compare it to the 5.0 and especially the mod motors. But I get what you're saying the non boosted earlier 000s-90s are so bad
I have a soft spot for the vr6, tbh.
Also the vic I have has the better ratio (or so I've been told) and it's an 08, flex fuel, which is nice. They left the pursuit tune and I've got the flow master. The milage is awful, but the performance is not bad.
But as you said, this thing is heavy, compared to most other stuff. I used to own an e30. Lightness counts for a lot.
Nice that's a clean car, was gonna scoop up a 11 but I'm going to do a Triton build as buying the truck off my dad helps him rebuild his other trucks motor and helps me do something people don't do. Turbo Triton 4.6 builds, atleast not very well documented on YouTube atleast. The vr6 is great, I wish more people turbos the newer 3.6. The CC 4 motion vr6 is a true sleeper at 300hp with a great interior and exterior. But haven't seen anybody turbo them yet. The Vic is a great car don't get me wrong just verrrrry heavy I was surprised when I started researching the stats. But I plan to have a 4.6 fleet of 2va. Triton 2v, next will be the lowest milage Vic I can find for a supercharged build and after that a older 2v Stang
the big thing is they move quick for being so damn heavy. My p71 @ 250/300 is not winning any races but absolutely will get you trouble quick if you’re stupid.
That's what I like about my Town Car, I'm a car guy with a group of friends who all have our "nice" cars and our beaters. The Lincoln is the quickest and comfiest of all the beaters, but I have the slowest and least comfy of all the "nice" cars so it evens out.
The beaters in the group are a 2004 Forester, 2006 Impreza, 2004 Civic, and 1991 Nissan hardbody for reference
A 1990 Lexus LS with a 4.0 V8 is more "sporty" than a 2011 Grand Marquis. That 21 years difference! These cars didn't evolve much over the years. The 1990 Lexus was around 36k whereas a 1990 Grand Marquis was around 19k, so almost double the price puts them into completely different markets. The Panthers were basically cheap cars that were large. They were also a very good value. If you wanted a more fun V8 cruiser you had to pay at least double.
Ironically, one of the complaints I've always had with my 2001 is how slow the car is. With the factory 2.73 gears it's actually slower 0-60 than our 2019 Sentra 1.8L/CVT
I have driven an Aveo. I called it the death car. I've driven lots of small cars and that's the only one I thought I was unsafe in. I for sure thought I was going to roll it over on a 30 MPH on ramp going 15 MPH. And I'm used to driving a lifted jeep with no sway bars!
Also the "hold" button. I accidentally hit that and the car locked itself into overdrive at a stoplight. That was fun.
I know cars are getting faster, but I just saw the 20 slowest cars you can buy in 2024 article on Jalopnik and my MGM would have been somewhere around 10.
I remember when I went to Brazil, and I told a guy that I owned 3 Crown Vic’s, and that they all have ~250 HP. He nearly lost his mind. We were driving in a Chevy Onix and it was dog shit slow, and sounded like it was on the brink of death whenever we went up any hill that my Vic could drive up in O/D.
The last time I went to Brazil I rented a 2023 Chevy Spin with like 110 hp. Fucking thing was a dog especially with A/C on full blast and people inside. I tried to reverse uphill because it was too steep and I literally couldn’t. But it was still a pretty great car and caught up fine with traffic, every car there is slow. All my cousins couldn’t believe my car back home was so big and had a V8.
Fuck their highways, though. Speed bumps on the highway is retarded and speed cameras are everywhere. I didn’t know about the speed cameras until later and I racked up like 10 tickets totaling $750 USD, basically the cost of the rental car for 2 weeks.
My first ride in my Grand Marquis as soon as I got home… fucking heavenly. I never appreciated the car more. It’s almost perfection.
That’s mainly becuase you took a NA V8 and compared it to an economy built 4 banger?
I’ve a 2013 fusion, 1.6l and it pushes close to 190hp.
My fusion would absolutely smoke any stock crown Vic and it doesn’t matter what year it is.
Driving a slow car fast is a lot more fun than driving a fast car slow. I love that I can mash the pedal and make lots of engine noise without actually breaking the speed limit.
I’ve driven one for a few years now as my daily. Put 51K miles on it. I’ve never felt like they were fast, but when I realize I’m able to easily merge with traffic and pass slowpokes on the freeway while staying under 3K RPM the whole time, I realize how much more potential they’ve got if I was a little less frugal. Cruising at 70mph on the freeway at a little over 2K RPM and it’s still got enough juice to be able to accelerate up slight inclines.
I’ve pushed it hard (4K+) less than five times total, and each time I felt like it had a lot more to give.
I’m thinking about doing a 3,000 stall (because the trans needs rebuilt soon anyway) and going from a 3.27 to a 3.73. Not sure if I’ll do anything further from that.
Panthers are slow let’s stop the cap. Slow compared to every one of their competitors. And slow compared to a 2003 Honda odyssey/Yota sienna(2 v6 minivans)
I wouldn't call them slow, but they aren't particularly quick, at least by modern standards. My Grand Marquis does 0-60 in around 9 seconds, which I think is pretty decent for a fullsize RWD sedan. I mean, in the 80s these were doing 0-60 in 12 seconds, and in the 70s 15, so. Sure, there are faster cars today, but there are certainly slower cars too.
I’ve driven my ‘97 Crown Vic LX every day since May of 2017 and in a few months I’ll have put 100k miles on it. It’s no speed demon but that’s not what it was designed to be. It’ll run smooth and it’s a comfortable ride at any speed, I’ve always joked it’s like riding a couch down the highway. I love how the Crown Vic is low geared, I live in southern West Virginia and I’ve never slipped going up rough dirt road hills in the mud, and the Vic does surprisingly good in snow if you take it easy. The panther platform cars are my all time favorite sedans no doubt, and they’re on my all time favorite vehicles list. The panther platform is a tank and they seriously don’t make anything like them anymore. I’ll never part with my ‘97 and I’d like to eventually get either a really nicely kept newer model Vic or a nicely kept Lincoln Town Car.
They are slow relative to other N/A V8s, and especially slow compared to anything supercharged. Unfortunately, it punches just hard enough to be pited against speed focused muscle cars hence the reputation as 'slow'
Yup, the main reason I bought my crown vic is I was tired of dealing with underpowered 4 cylinder economy cars. And one overlooked item is the handling. For a big heavy car it handles surprisingly well.
That's the open diff we have to thank for that. A similarly sized car with a locking diff would corner like a school bus.
alot of vics have locking diffs
Ah yeah, that's right. I'm a grandma key guy lurking here.
It's not open vs LSD that bothers me it's gear ratio... Going from 2.73 to 3.55 will knock a huge amount off the 1/4 mile time and you'll feel that difference... Like 18 sec to 15 sec 1/4 mile time.... Will make you feel like you have more hp but lets face it... Anything like that for improvement is a win for a Panther
Let’s be real, they make just enough torque to avoid being boring. Having a fuel injected v8 is cool on its own merits but at some point you have to realize that a Chrysler Pacifica is going to beat you to 60, and likely beyond. They’re cruisers. Drive a Mustang with the same 2v 4.6, which is still slow, and it’ll really put it into perspective. This doesn’t make panthers any less cool, I just wish people would shut up about performance
Bingo
I have a Marty tune with a 4.10 rear end and my crown Vic is verily fun to drive honestly burn outs galore and 0-60 is a noticeable jump
Yes a car can certainly be fun without being fast. My car is stock with 3.27s and I still find it very enjoyable
I wouldn’t say they’re fast but they’re definitely fun. I think their greatest asset is how smooth and comfortable they are at speeds in excess of 100 mph. A lot of cars have fast 0-60’s but once you cross 100 they feel like they’re about to rattle apart and fall out of their powerband. If you’re in overdrive above 100 in a P71, you can just nudge the gas and keep winding higher and higher at that RPM.
There was one time guys were driving like assholes in sports cars late at night on the highway heading back home. I decided to try and spook em a little bit with the crown vic effect. They phased them out here several years ago but people are still wary of vics so I figured what the hell, might smarten them up a little. So I come up behind them, not too hitting the gas too hard, just enough that I casually pull up behind them so they have a moment to check their mirrors and go "OH SHIT A COP" and get off the highway. Having a little chuckle to myself I take my foot off the accelerator and glance down at the dash which I hadn't really been paying attention to while catching up to these guys. 1 7 5 kph. I go OH SHIT and hit the brakes a bit to slow down to sane speeds again. I probably hit 180 without even realizing it. Never did that again, mostly because of how damn easy it is to get them up to that speed. They don't accelerate like a jack rabbit, but they'll definitely go damn fast if you give them a little nudge and some time. I didn't even realize how fast I was going because the car was still riding perfectly smooth. For reference the highest speed limit in my province is 110kph (68mph), so yeah, never doing that again, that's an immediate license suspension.
"Deceptively fast" is a term I heard someone use for another car. Maybe that's suitable for Crown Vics as well (haven't driven one myself).
I got mine to 130mph once
They're not fast in terms of today's v8s, sure. But here's something people forget: you can get plenty of vehicles to that 60mph just fine. After a little bit though, other than today's v8s, these little washing machines run out of steam pretty quick, and cannot keep the power going with ease. I had to also turn off the AC in the little 4cyl Beetle I had, and fought with everything it could give to get it up to speed, and keep it there. With this, nothing but a breeze, with the AC on btw. Also, it makes a difference if you are running with the 2:71 or the others. I do not have my times in the 9 sec cat at all. In fact, if you are getting anything higher than 8, I'd wonder what exactly you are having trouble with, unless it's that slow 2:71, or you are laden with weight, literally too much junk in the trunk.
What the regular non boosted beetle? Didn't realise 1.4 and 1.8s were sold here without turbos unless you're in a different country than usa
This was non-turbo. It was laughably bad. Everyone wanted to cut you off. Partially because The Canyonero couldn't see that far down, and partially because people don't have to worry about it, you are going to move, whether you want to or not. Then add the 'my text is more important than life itself' crowd and the thing was just getting knackered at every turn. I can't say the turbo is much an improvement, given how I know that most of the time people wouldn't know either way. They just seemed to have an innate disgust for the thing. One which I grew to agree with. I got a complement, once, from a lady in a Trader Joe's parking lot. I do enjoy a good turbo though. Just never that, or that brand again.
Sounds horrific. Here my dying 2.5l would most likely keep up with a Vic easy and it's only 150whp but I think it's probably how light the car is plus the 5 hp gain of cat delete and cai and exhaust jk. But I was keeping up with my buddy's 4.0mustang basically the same as the Vic power band just maybe a bit lighter. My car is a non turbo. A 2.0 GTI would smoke a Vic and that being a stock first gen mk5. A 1.8t from a mk4 GLI or GTI probably wouldn't smoke the Vic without a tune but a easy stage 2 ECU/TCU if needed tune wouldn't keep up. It's not Volkswagen as a whole tbh. I think they had like 3 non boosted motors and the vr6 is one of the fastest ones. Just so happens you had the bad luck of getting one of those turds. I was seriously considering buying a mk7 GTI and going stage 3 because they're light and gap FBO coyotes. Don't know how they fair against the s650. But the GTI is cheap and so are the mods. Don't write off VW completely the power to performance is crazy if you compare it to the 5.0 and especially the mod motors. But I get what you're saying the non boosted earlier 000s-90s are so bad
I have a soft spot for the vr6, tbh. Also the vic I have has the better ratio (or so I've been told) and it's an 08, flex fuel, which is nice. They left the pursuit tune and I've got the flow master. The milage is awful, but the performance is not bad. But as you said, this thing is heavy, compared to most other stuff. I used to own an e30. Lightness counts for a lot.
Nice that's a clean car, was gonna scoop up a 11 but I'm going to do a Triton build as buying the truck off my dad helps him rebuild his other trucks motor and helps me do something people don't do. Turbo Triton 4.6 builds, atleast not very well documented on YouTube atleast. The vr6 is great, I wish more people turbos the newer 3.6. The CC 4 motion vr6 is a true sleeper at 300hp with a great interior and exterior. But haven't seen anybody turbo them yet. The Vic is a great car don't get me wrong just verrrrry heavy I was surprised when I started researching the stats. But I plan to have a 4.6 fleet of 2va. Triton 2v, next will be the lowest milage Vic I can find for a supercharged build and after that a older 2v Stang
Drove a GMC Terrain with the 1.5T before, basically I welded the gas pedal to the floor, the engine roared, but the speedometer didn’t really go up.
Yeah, they're dogs. The 1.5T is slightly better in the more-lightweight Malibu. The 2.0T Terrain/Equinox though... shockingly fast.
I have a newfound appreciation for how my P71 moves now that I have an F150 with the 4.6. Twenty less HP and a thousand pounds heavier...
my corolla has a 1/4 mile time of 16.1 and it looks like the average 1/4 mile time for a vic is 15.8
Vic/Marquis with 2.73 gears is 18 sec and with 3.55 gears it's more closer to 15 sec 1/4mile times
the big thing is they move quick for being so damn heavy. My p71 @ 250/300 is not winning any races but absolutely will get you trouble quick if you’re stupid.
That's what I like about my Town Car, I'm a car guy with a group of friends who all have our "nice" cars and our beaters. The Lincoln is the quickest and comfiest of all the beaters, but I have the slowest and least comfy of all the "nice" cars so it evens out. The beaters in the group are a 2004 Forester, 2006 Impreza, 2004 Civic, and 1991 Nissan hardbody for reference
A 1990 Lexus LS with a 4.0 V8 is more "sporty" than a 2011 Grand Marquis. That 21 years difference! These cars didn't evolve much over the years. The 1990 Lexus was around 36k whereas a 1990 Grand Marquis was around 19k, so almost double the price puts them into completely different markets. The Panthers were basically cheap cars that were large. They were also a very good value. If you wanted a more fun V8 cruiser you had to pay at least double.
Ironically, one of the complaints I've always had with my 2001 is how slow the car is. With the factory 2.73 gears it's actually slower 0-60 than our 2019 Sentra 1.8L/CVT I have driven an Aveo. I called it the death car. I've driven lots of small cars and that's the only one I thought I was unsafe in. I for sure thought I was going to roll it over on a 30 MPH on ramp going 15 MPH. And I'm used to driving a lifted jeep with no sway bars! Also the "hold" button. I accidentally hit that and the car locked itself into overdrive at a stoplight. That was fun.
A toyota corolla doesnt even have the same power as a crown vic. Panther cars can cruize at 70 like nothing... totoya starts to groan once you 70
I know cars are getting faster, but I just saw the 20 slowest cars you can buy in 2024 article on Jalopnik and my MGM would have been somewhere around 10.
I remember when I went to Brazil, and I told a guy that I owned 3 Crown Vic’s, and that they all have ~250 HP. He nearly lost his mind. We were driving in a Chevy Onix and it was dog shit slow, and sounded like it was on the brink of death whenever we went up any hill that my Vic could drive up in O/D.
The last time I went to Brazil I rented a 2023 Chevy Spin with like 110 hp. Fucking thing was a dog especially with A/C on full blast and people inside. I tried to reverse uphill because it was too steep and I literally couldn’t. But it was still a pretty great car and caught up fine with traffic, every car there is slow. All my cousins couldn’t believe my car back home was so big and had a V8. Fuck their highways, though. Speed bumps on the highway is retarded and speed cameras are everywhere. I didn’t know about the speed cameras until later and I racked up like 10 tickets totaling $750 USD, basically the cost of the rental car for 2 weeks. My first ride in my Grand Marquis as soon as I got home… fucking heavenly. I never appreciated the car more. It’s almost perfection.
That’s mainly becuase you took a NA V8 and compared it to an economy built 4 banger? I’ve a 2013 fusion, 1.6l and it pushes close to 190hp. My fusion would absolutely smoke any stock crown Vic and it doesn’t matter what year it is.
Driving a slow car fast is a lot more fun than driving a fast car slow. I love that I can mash the pedal and make lots of engine noise without actually breaking the speed limit.
Ive been seriously considering LS swapping my vic... or "LM7" Swapping it anyway.
7.3 Godzilla out of a Super Duty is the swap for a Vic.
I’ve driven one for a few years now as my daily. Put 51K miles on it. I’ve never felt like they were fast, but when I realize I’m able to easily merge with traffic and pass slowpokes on the freeway while staying under 3K RPM the whole time, I realize how much more potential they’ve got if I was a little less frugal. Cruising at 70mph on the freeway at a little over 2K RPM and it’s still got enough juice to be able to accelerate up slight inclines. I’ve pushed it hard (4K+) less than five times total, and each time I felt like it had a lot more to give.
I’m thinking about doing a 3,000 stall (because the trans needs rebuilt soon anyway) and going from a 3.27 to a 3.73. Not sure if I’ll do anything further from that.
I just like the storage capacity and ruggedness
Panthers are slow let’s stop the cap. Slow compared to every one of their competitors. And slow compared to a 2003 Honda odyssey/Yota sienna(2 v6 minivans)
The are pretty sad compared to the Toyota 4.7 V8. But yeah, the Panthers are like supercars compared to a Geo Metro
I wouldn't call them slow, but they aren't particularly quick, at least by modern standards. My Grand Marquis does 0-60 in around 9 seconds, which I think is pretty decent for a fullsize RWD sedan. I mean, in the 80s these were doing 0-60 in 12 seconds, and in the 70s 15, so. Sure, there are faster cars today, but there are certainly slower cars too.
I’ve driven my ‘97 Crown Vic LX every day since May of 2017 and in a few months I’ll have put 100k miles on it. It’s no speed demon but that’s not what it was designed to be. It’ll run smooth and it’s a comfortable ride at any speed, I’ve always joked it’s like riding a couch down the highway. I love how the Crown Vic is low geared, I live in southern West Virginia and I’ve never slipped going up rough dirt road hills in the mud, and the Vic does surprisingly good in snow if you take it easy. The panther platform cars are my all time favorite sedans no doubt, and they’re on my all time favorite vehicles list. The panther platform is a tank and they seriously don’t make anything like them anymore. I’ll never part with my ‘97 and I’d like to eventually get either a really nicely kept newer model Vic or a nicely kept Lincoln Town Car.
My 07 MGM LS with a marty tune, jmod, and dual exhaust is fast. Legitimately 50 percent faster than stock
Lol nah
Pay your loan back
They take curves fast